[The Deputy Spokesperson later added that the UN Mission in Afghanistan believed the Ankara Declaration deserves support and says that it looks forward to seeing it being acted upon. The UN has consistently advocated for better dialogue and cooperation between Afghanistan and Pakistan, she added.]

Question: Yesterday, it was announced that Jan Egeland, the Special Adviser to the Secretary-General on Political Affairs, was appointed Director of the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. Is the Secretary-General concerned that this might be seen as a conflict of interest?

Spokesperson: I don’t believe so. As you know, Mr. Egeland will be taking up appointments from time to time and he will be affiliated with the Department of Political Affairs on this. And I checked with them and I think he will continue to work on an as-needed basis if there are reasons for him to contribute.

Question: Tuesday it was announced that the report on resolution 1559 would be released, and then yesterday. Why this delay? Do you have any reason?

Spokesperson: No. I don’t know if there was an actual due date for this, but I understand that the report is being finalized and I’ll let you know as soon as it goes to Council members, as we usually do.

Question: It’s a follow-up to Mr. Abbadi’s question. Yesterday, I was told that Jan Egeland and other people are paid on this “whenever actually employed basis”. That they’re paid as a USG but just for the days that they work. But they have another employer. Are they also paid by the other employer at the same time? Meaning, are they serving two masters? And what’s the review process? In this case there was no conflict. But who in the UN reviews whether someone working for the UN and also a private entity, that there’s not a conflict? What’s the process?

Spokesperson: Yes, if they are working as a part-time job, they are paid from their other employer. Well, you’d have to ask them about their other employer. In terms of if there’s a conflict of interest, that’s something that the OHRM, our Human Resources Department, would be vetting and, if necessary, with the advice of our Legal Department.

Question: How many “whenever actually employed” people are there working for the UN? And can we get a list of those?

Spokesperson: I think we’ve mentioned this from this podium. But, as you know, the new Secretary-General is still in the process of reviewing the various senior officials. So as soon as the line-up is complete, we will obviously let you know.

Question: Can we even just know the current line-up? I’m not saying like who he’s going to appoint. I got a sense yesterday when I got your answer that I didn’t know how many of them that there are.

Spokesperson: I think there is a review process going on. So I don’t think we’ll have anything available until that is complete. But if I can get you something, I will.